Affectionate Heart
by NightKDuet
Summary: Hinata is willing to help Sakura out, who is her best friend, gain the attention of Sasuke. What she did not expect, however, was to grow close to Sasuke. Hanabi, a meddling sister, decided to get involved in the whole scheme. SasuHina :Chap 5 is up:
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto…**

**A/N: Well, this is going to be more than one-shots or two-shots that I usually write. I hope it turned out alright.**

**Affectionate Heart**

Her whitish-gray, opaque eyes widened and she could feel the heat emitting from her cheeks, as she perceived two pairs of eyes that totally contrasted colors, which seemed to further emphasize their differing personalities.

'_Why does this happen to me?_' She thought as she laughed nervously at them and tried to speak. The blond haired guy with clear blue eyes smiled kindly at her, while the handsome but somewhat gloomy guy with a pair of onyx eyes looked at her indifferently. She chose to look at more friendly and outgoing Naruto, who seemed to encourage her to say what she intended.

"Um…" She hated the way she couldn't control her blush but she was a shy girl, who was, at the moment, forced to help her best friend. "Sakura-chan would like to know if she could borrow your notes, Sasuke-san."

She looked at Naruto, who seemed to be interested now that Sakura got involved in the conversation. She felt sorry for him. '_Sakura-chan likes Sasuke. If only she liked Naruto…_'

She briefly caught Sasuke's eyes flashing in annoyance and worried that she might have angered him. She opted to look at his shoulder until his sharp voice, brimmed with anger, reached her ears. "Why couldn't she ask that herself?"

She tucked her hair behind her ears and inwardly sighed in agreement. '_Yeah. Why couldn't she? I mean wouldn't it be more convenient? She would get to talk to him._' But Hinata didn't blame her because Sasuke was scary when he wanted to be. She couldn't imagine why her pink-haired best friend liked this guy. '_You can do this._' Hinata thought over and over in her mind.

"She has to take a math test that she missed last time and since you are in the same history class as her, she asked me to ask you for the notes," Hinata said, as she hugged the books closer to her and clenched her fingers in anxiety and nervousness.

Now, Naruto spoke up, "Sasuke, let her borrow your notes. She's asking you nicely, you know." He smiled widely at Hinata, who looked at him gratefully.

"It's none of your business," Sasuke shot back, which made Naruto angry rather quickly. Before the blond-haired best friend could speak up, Sasuke turned to Hinata and almost shoved the notes into her hands. "Tell her to give it back to me tomorrow."

"Oh, right. Thanks," Hinata said, glad that this was finally over. She let out the breath she was holding and relaxed as Sasuke walked away.

"See you tomorrow!" Naruto said, as he squeezed one of her shoulders in a friendly gesture as he passed by to catch up with Sasuke. He gave out his trademark grin as he ran toward his friend. She half-heartedly waved back at him. '_If only Sakura-chan liked Naruto-kun, then it could have made everyone's life easier,_' she sighed. '_But not everything works to your advantage._' She smiled at the thought of how these notes would make Sakura happy.

XxXxXxXxXxXxX

"Sasuke-kun!"

Hinata winced and felt her body automatically tense as she let herself be dragged by Sakura, who had called out to her crush with the sweetest voice possible. She spotted Naruto, who had stopped to wait for Sakura, while Sasuke just kept his normal pace.

"Saku--" Before Naruto could greet her, she stomped her way past him to catch up with Sasuke, leaving behind Hinata right next to Naruto.

"Sasuke-kun! I got your notes!" Sakura called out, which couldn't have been louder in the crowded hallway. It would have been heard miles away.

Naruto tried to catch her pink-haired best friend's attention. "Sakura-chan, do you want to go to the class together?"

Sakura briefly looked at him, her eyes flashing at him in annoyance. "No, you go ahead. I'll give the notes back to Sasuke-kun."

Hinata's heart went to him whole-heartedly with sympathy. Sometimes, Sakura could be ruthless in putting people down.

"Then I'll wai--"

Whatever Naruto was going to say was cut off by another sharp statement from Sakura. "Since Hina-chan has the same class as you, why don't you walk with her?" Then she turned to Hinata and said, "I'll catch up with you, alright?" The message contained in them was clear. Hinata was supposed to distract Naruto and take him to class so that Sakura could spend more time with Sasuke.

Hinata could only mutely nod, while Naruto sighed in frustration as he watched Sakura skip to Sasuke, who was observing the whole situation with an unreadable expression. She watched as Sasuke quickly took the notes from eager Sakura and walked away as fast as he could, while Sakura tried keep up with his pace.

Hinata turned to her friend next to her. "I'm sure Sakura-chan will come talk to you later," she consoled but she knew that it was a worthless assurance.

But Naruto seemed not to mind it or at least, if he noticed, he had the grace not to show it. "Yeah, I'm sure," he said, with disappointment, but cheered up instantly. "Let's go to our class! Oh shoot! I forgot to do my homework." He scratched his head in exasperation. "Aw, man, I'm gonna get another boring lecture from Hana-sensei."

Her eyes lit up in amusement at his antics. "If you could copy my homework in 3 minutes, I'll let you borrow mine."

"Really?" Naruto said, his cerulean eyes widening in happiness. "That would be great."

He hugged her briefly as a gesture of thanks to which Hinata let out a small blush, unused to getting touched by the opposite sex.

"You're w-welcome."

XxXxXxXxXxXxX

'_Just a little more,_' Hinata thought as she tried to reach the highest shelf that contained the book she needed. This was one of those times when she wished that she could somehow magically make herself taller.

Then she felt something warm cover up her back and was instantly surrounded by the scent of cologne, characteristic of masculinity. She let out a sharp intake of breath in surprise and quickly turned to look at the person, who withdrew his hand from the top shelf, retrieving the same troublesome book in his hand.

"Sasuke…san?" Hinata's tried to calm her nervousness and fright. He towered over her and she tried to put some distance between them by attempting to shrink back into the bookshelf behind her. To her dismay, he stayed where he was, right in front of her, too close for her comfort.

"Yeah?" He asked, nonchalantly, holding the book as a hostage.

"Ah, w-well, if you don't mind," Hinata tried to ignore the rising panic spreading throughout her body. "That is, are you…well, do you need that book?"

"This?" Sasuke said, as his eyes looked straight into hers. "Not really."

But he did not move an inch from his previous position. "So…c-can I have it?" Hinata stuttered out, still trying to figure out a way out before anybody could see. She almost let out a sigh of relief when she saw that no one was coming to their aisle in which they were staying.

"Only if you answer my question," Sasuke replied back, stepping half-step away from her to give her a little more room. He went right to his point. "Is Sakura forcing you... to do things?"

The question itself was incredibly vague and Hinata didn't know what he was talking about. '_Sakura forcing me to do things? What is he talking about?_' Perhaps he meant homework and class duties.

"Umm…no," Hinata answered as best as she could.

He looked like he was a little put off by her answer. "No?" He continued to scrutinize her as if he was interrogating her. The next question threw her off as well. "Are you staying in the library?"

In her desperate effort to get out of her situation, she answered without thinking. "Yes."

"Good," Sasuke said as he started to move toward to the end of the bookshelf.

'_Huh?_' Hinata looked at him with astonishment. She was frozen in her spot as he continued to walk away.

Sasuke looked back at her in slight irritation. "Are you coming? Hurry up."

"Ah, uh, yes," Hinata hastily picked up her other books and her backpack and followed him in bewilderment.

'_My book for the research._' She looked longingly at the book held in Sasuke's hand.

They arrived at an empty table, where he finally let her book plop down onto the desk, which was located in one corner of the library. He looked up at her expectantly. She scrambled to her seat, opposite of him, and settled down.

"Now study," Sasuke stated, flatly. She was puzzled by his actions but did not question him and reluctantly got her other books out. He also took out his laptop as well as his books but before he could devote himself to his study, the soft, feminine voice floated to his ears.

"Sakura--" Hinata started off but he cut in through the middle of the sentence.

"What about her?" Sasuke said in annoyance.

"Well, she, umm…" Hinata was left speechless. '_She will kill me if she sees me with Sasuke._'

She tried to come up with anything to add to that sentence. With him looking at her with such an intense gaze, she just blurted out the first thing that came to her mind. "Ah, she's a nice girl."

Hinata bit her lips as she felt the intensity of his gaze increase with the each second that passed by. Few seconds felt like a whole hour to her, as tension seemed to swirl around the surrounding air, constricting her whole body, until she found it hard to breathe.

"Hn." He neither agreed nor disagreed, which relieved Hinata.

'_So he isn't completely heartless._' Hinata thought as she looked at him curiously.

Sasuke chose not to answer and turned to his laptop.

'_Well, as long as Sakura doesn't see, it won't hurt. It's not like we're talking or getting to know each other, right? No harm in being a studying partner._'

Hinata reassured herself and finally opened her book and was able to maintain her state of relaxation and focus until several hours passed, when she became hungry and her eyes were tired. She forgot that Sasuke was there and yawned. When she finally noticed him, her eyes widened as if seeing him for the first time.

His hands were intertwined together and his chin rested over his hands. His eyes looked at her in amusement. "You done?"

She nodded without saying anything, afraid that if she spoke, it would come out as a stuttering mess.

"Hinata?" Someone's voice called out from behind her. Hinata automatically looked back to see her cousin standing there, who was looking back and forth between her and Sasuke.

"Neji!" She almost shouted out his name but managed to control the volume of her voice. '_Just the person I wanted to see. Help me, Neji!_'

As if sensing her distress, Neji quickly glared at Sasuke. "What the hell are you doing here with my cousin?"

Sasuke glared back at him with equal intensity. "As you can see, we're studying. Or rather, we were studying until you interrupted."

Neji ignored him and turned to look at his cousin instead. His eyes visibly softened when he turned to look at his cousin. "You done?" When Hinata nodded, Neji came closer and put his hand in her shoulder. "Your dad called and said you are needed."

"Alright," Hinata stated, calmly, smiling at her cousin. Smiling seemed to help escalate her mood.

"Come on then," Neji stated as he started walking away.

Hinata picked her books up in a hurry and turned to look at Sasuke, who had an indifferent face and looked at her with a blank stare. "Uhh, I'll see you around."

Sasuke smirked, making her face heat up. "Sure."

Hianta swiftly turned around and it took her whole willpower not to run to her cousin in relief and happiness.

She caught up to her cousin easily and walked alongside him with ease and contentment until they were outside the library. That was when he decided to ask her the question she has been anticipating and at the same time, dreading.

"So…what were you doing with Uchiha Sasuke?" Eyes so similar to her own looked searchingly into hers.

"Coincidence!" Hinata exclaimed, until she realized that she had burst out in a manner so unlike her usual self. "Umm…we just met at the library together and I, uh, decided to study with him," Hinata spoke all this rapidly, trying to convince her stubborn-natured cousin.

"Very well," Neji stated, looking like he wanted to say something. But he decided against it. She could make the right judgment on her own. She sighed in relief when she felt the subject seemed to drop. She loosely slipped an arm around his, just like what they used to do when they were little and they continued on their way in comfortable silence.

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**First chapter is done :)**

**Reviews would be nice.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I thought I should clear something up. The italics are Hinata's thoughts and the regular quotation marks are what are actually being said. Most of the readers would have figured out anyway but I'm just making sure :)**

**Chapter 2**

"Onee-chan," her sister called out to her. They were currently in Hinata's room with Hinata doing her homework while her sister was on her back on the bed with an open book covering her face, which was used to shield her eyes from the rays of the sun.

"Hmm?" Hinata replied, absentmindedly. The sound of pen scratching the paper was heard.

"Do you like someone?" The question was innocent enough but to Hinata, it was embarrassing her enough to make her lightly blush.

"No," the older sister quickly answered, pausing from writing furiously to glance questioningly at the younger one.

Hanabi lifted the book off from her face and sat up to look at her sister. "Then, did you used to like someone ever since you entered high school?"

Hanabi's serious face looked mismatched with the seemingly bizarre question she was asking.

Hinata couldn't lie to her sister. "Yes."

"Who?" Hanabi immediately shot back.

"Why?" Hinata retaliated. Hinata could practically feel the curious vibe emitting from her sister.

"Just out of curiosity," Hanabi answered, innocently.

"What about you?" The conversation was starting to unnerve her.

"Me?" Hanabi pointed to herself. "Well, I like Konohamaru Sarutobi." She was straightforward as always. Then she muttered something under her breath about him being a pervert and stupid. Hinata smiled and wished she had inherited the same confidence. "So what about you?"

If her younger sister could tell her whom she likes, then she could tell her whom she used to like. "I liked Naruto-kun when I was in 9th grade."

"THE Uzumaki Naruto? That annoying blond jerk with the loudest voice and nasty temper?" Hanabi ranted to which Hinata could look at her in amazement.

"If we're talking about the same blond Naruto-kun, then yes," Hinata replied, looking at her imouto with an odd expression on her face.

"WHY?" Hanabi looked at her accusingly.

"Relax. I said I _**used **_to like him," Hinata claimed, trying to calm her sister down. "Why are you so against him anyway?"

"Because he's a jerk and he claims he is a friend with that emo guy--" Hinata held back a wince. She was reminded of the encounters she had with Sasuke, which she would rather forget. "--but really, he's too much of a freak."

Hinata kept quiet, hoping that her younger sister would drop the topic. But her wish was not met at the end of the brief silence.

"Is Sakura over that 'Sasuke-kun' she mentions so much about?" Hanabi asked, bluntly. " 'Cause I'm sick of hearing her talk about how 'handsome' and 'attractive' he is every time she comes over." Hanabi personally imitated Sakura with a sugary and high-pitched voice to which Hinata chuckled.

Hanabi continued on, "By the way, you're not still trying to help her gain the attention of that problematic Uchiha, are you?" Hanabi's eyes were directed toward her with an "I-know-what-you're-going-to-say" look.

"Uhh, yes?" Hinata answered, meekly.

This only seemed to vex Hanabi further. "Just tell _**her**_ to confess so that she can get it over with because her 'genius' plan won't work," Hanabi gritted out.

"She's trying her best," Hinata countered, trying to defend her.

"HER BEST?" Hanabi's voice boomed, throwing the book aside from her lap angrily. "By using her BEST FRIEND? Hah, she's a manipulating b--" Hanabi stopped in the middle as Hinata shot her a warning look. "--witch, who just can't handle her own problems. How is distracting Naruto 'whenever you can' gonna help, huh?"

Hanabi had quoted the exact words that were between Sakura and her. "Well…I'm still trying--"

"--to come up with a plan?" Hanabi finished the sentence for her, looking at her incredulously. They stared at each other in silence.

Then her lips turned into one of the Hyuuga's arrogant trademark smirk. "Ooh, I think I have an idea."

"I don't like where this is going," Hinata said, as she looked at her younger sister, warily.

"Just _**trust**_ me. I know what I'm doing." Hanabi's voice practically oozed with mischief. Hinata was thankful that her sister didn't find out that she stayed with Sasuke in the library for few hours.

Her sister literally skipped to her room to devise her "Get-The-Witch-To-Confess-To-The-Emo" plan. The older sister was less appreciative of the title and chose not to comment.

XxXxXxXxXxXxX

"Now this--" Hanabi pointed proudly to the little piece of paper in her hand. "--is what I would like to call a master plan."

Hinata looked at her sister, trying hard not to freak out by fiery determination and mischief shooting out through her eyes. They were at school and people were passing by the two siblings without knowing what evil plan Hanabi was brewing in her mind.

Hinata started to say, "Hanabi, maybe it isn't a good--"

"Oh, it's a good idea alright. It's original and creative, what more do you expect?" Hanabi shot back, waving the piece of paper slightly in the air as if that would prove her point.

"Well, if I could actually see it," Hinata reached for the paper in her sister's hand, only to have the said paper be pulled back out of the reach.

"Oh no you don't. You just need to do what I tell you to do," Hanabi said.

Hinata gave up, trying to convince her sister out of the plan. "So what do I need to do?" she asked, cautiously.

"You just need to bring Sasuke to the storage room out in the field," Hanabi said, simply, which made Hinata look at her dubiously.

'_How am I going to do that?_' Hinata asked herself. '_And distract Naruto_.'

But before Hinata could speak again, a bright, optimistic male voice, which belonged to the person she was thinking about in the moment, spoke out from behind her. "Hey, Hinata-chan!"

Both sisters turned to the source of the voice. "Well, well. If it isn't the jerk and the emo," Hanabi sarcastically commented, making Naruto fume.

"WHAT DID YA SAY?" Naruto shouted, while Sasuke was annoyed at the offensive comment directed at him.

"Brat," Sasuke stated, simply.

Hanabi smirked. "My sister was wondering…"

Hinata looked at Hanabi in alarm, while Sasuke looked at her curiously.

"…Can you help her carry the art supplies to the room?" Hinata clenched her jaw. "I was going to go and help Onee-chan carry them but my teacher needs me to take a missed test and I'm already late." Hanabi then turned to Naruto, who was huffing, indignantly. "Oh, and that blondie is needed by Takahira-sensei," Hanabi said, as she gave out the key to the storage room and pushed Hinata to the proper direction. "Go on. I need six big canvases and easels for the class in addition to variety of colors."

Before she was completely let off, Hanabi whispered in her ears, "In ten minutes or so, I need you to get out of there."

Surprisingly, Sasuke didn't object and started to follow her lead. Hinata could vaguely hear Naruto and Hanabi bickering back and forth in the far distance. However, the silence between them was overwhelming.

"Umm…thank you for helping me." Hinata looked at her watch. It read "3:00." '_You're doing this to help Sakura._'

"Whatever," Sasuke replied, shrugging casually as he joined right next to her. "Your sister's pretty rude."

Hinata chuckled at his comment and smiled. Maybe she was starting to get used to Sasuke. "I'm sorry. She's usually nice but I don't understand why she doesn't get along with certain others."

Hinata could see the slightest hint of smirk on his face. "Well, not everyone can get along."

"Hmm?" Hinata replied, looking straight ahead to see that they were not far off from the storage room.

"Do you ever talk bad about others?" Sasuke asked, curiously.

'_Is he trying to make a conversation with me?_'

"No, not…really," Hinata replied, distractedly. '_Oh shoot. I need to think of an excuse! Think, Hinata! Think! If Hanabi only discussed this with me beforehand..._'

Hinata could almost feel cold sweat breaking out on her back. She was vaguely aware that Sasuke was saying something, but she was too distracted to pay attention and pretended that she was listening until Sasuke snapped her attention back to reality.

"Hey, were you listening to me?" Sasuke said, as she got out the key and unlocked the door.

"Hmm…yeah," Hinata replied, absentmindedly. '_Focus!_' Hinata reprimanded herself.

"What did I just say?" Sasuke's voice sounded somewhere close to her ears.

She almost jumped out of her skin. She turned to look behind her and immediately took a step back when she found out that he was invading her personal space. Onyx eyes pierced into her very soul and she could feel the blush coming on. She was suddenly aware of the hot air, spinning and swirling around her in an endless circle.

"Err…" She remembered something about easel and paint. "You were asking about what we needed to get from the storage room?" It came more as a question as she was unsure of it herself.

"Right," he walked right past her into the narrow pathway created by shelves full of art supplies on either side.

She quickly glanced at her watch. '_3:06._'

"She needed six easels and canvases with various colors," Hinata recalled. She could feel her heart pounding loudly in her ears in anticipation.

They set out to gather the needed materials. Hinata spent the longest minutes four minutes in her life in that room with her mind in frenzy. '_Be right back? Where? I need location! Restroom? Yeah, that's it!_'

"Well, Sasuke-sa--" Hinata called out, nervously, only to be cut off by Sasuke.

"You don't need to be so formal with me," Sasuke stated, smoothly. Hinata felt heat radiate from her cheeks for the umpteenth time.

"Would you mind, erm… well, uh, I'll be back soon," Hinata said, awkwardly. "Restroom," then she felt the need to add, "I'll be back in a flash."

"Okay." Sasuke understood, which made her stomach churn for trying to scheme something behind his back. She will need to make sure she isn't found out. Hinata quickly dashed out and hid herself in the back of the storage room.

She could hear a feminine voice calling her name in the distant and knew that Sakura was coming. She heard footsteps going into the storage room, which was followed by a big "WHAM!" that signaled door being shut closed. Her heart pounded hard almost to the point it that it hurt. She stayed in the crouched position for several more seconds, until another feminine voice spoke up.

"Well, well. A master plan indeed," her younger sister's voice sounded out. "She didn't even know I was secretly following behind her."

Hinata could hear the muffled voice of Sakura and Sasuke and knew that they were both inside. She got up and revealed herself to her sister, who had her thumb up and winked at her.

Hinata heard the pounding of the door and through the thin wall, she could hear Sakura yelling, "We're trapped!"

Hinata needed to know when to cut in so she leaned her back against the storage door and listened to their sparse dialogues, hoping that somehow Sasuke wouldn't hurt Sakura too much. The conversation went on like this:

Sasuke was saying, "What the hell are you doing here?"

"I was looking for Hina-chan."

Hinata could imagine the doubtful expression on his face. "She will be back in a little while."

"What were you doing with her anyways?"

"It's none of your business."

"But she's my best friend," Sakura protested. Hinata heard Hanabi sigh impatiently.

"I don't have to tell you," Sasuke said, curtly.

Hinata knew that Sakura was upset. Hanabi crossed her arm and her expression conveyed annoyance.

"You don't _**happen**_ to _**have**_ the keys, do you?" Sasuke's voice dripped with sarcasm.

"No, I don't." Hinata knew that he was glaring openly at Sakura by the way that Sakura hastily added to her reply afterwards. "What I mean is, I don't have the keys."

Then, there was a silence.

Hanabi muttered almost inaudibly, "Come on. What's taking her so long? Just confess!"

Then Sakura's voice was heard again. "Umm…Sasuke-kun, I have something to say."

'_If all this goes well…they really match after all._' Hinata refused to let in the unknown feelings sprouting from somewhere deep within herself.

"I don't want to hear it." Frustration was beginning to edge into his voice.

"Well, just listen."

"No." There was a prolonged silence.

"I'll just say it."

"I said no." The argument was getting heated up. Hinata felt sorry for Sakura.

"I…"

"I _**said**_ I don't want to hear _**it**_." Hinata could hear some feet shuffling.

"I…like you." Hinata knew that it took courage to say those three words.

"I don't have the same feeling toward you." Sasuke sighed.

"I can wait." Hinata saw Hanabi roll her eyes.

"No you won't. I'll clearly say this to you: I will _**never**_ like you. I never did and never will return the feeling. So just move on already."

Hinata could hear Sakura sniffle. '_So…cruel._'

This was the time to intervene. "Sasuke?" Hinata called out as Hanabi hid behind the same place where she was hiding before.

"I'm here," a gruff voice called out from the inside.

"Are you alright?" Hinata tried to keep her voice neutral.

"Just open the door," he stated.

Hinata got out the key and turned the lock. She didn't expect to see him breeze out as soon as she opened the door and grab her wrist in the process. She briefly saw Sakura's form, curled up with her legs drawn up to her chin, crying on the floor. Before she could do anything else, he dragged her out so that she had to almost run to keep up the pace.

"Where--" Hinata started to question. Sasuke squeezed her wrist hard, making her gasp in pain. He seemed not to hear her.

She tried again. "Sasuke…Sasuke…SASUKE!"

"What?" He looked at her, menacingly. Hinata would have jumped back in surprise had it not been his hand preventing her from doing so.

She somehow found her voice. "Y-You're hurting me," Hinata replied in the softest way possible.

"Oh," Sasuke quickly let go and sat down on the bench right next to him. He massaged his temple as if he could feel the oncoming headache slowly creeping in.

"Are you alright?" Hinata repeated her previous question.

"Yes, I just needed a breath of fresh air," Sasuke replied.

Hinata knew she had to go back and get her friend but she couldn't leave him in misery either. '_It was probably for the best for both of them_._ I thought he would be toasting his victory for finally rejecting Sakura outright but…_'

"Could I…err…get anything for you?" Hinata wrung her hands, anxiously.

"It's okay," Sasuke replied, emptily. He frowned in annoyance. "Another day ruined," he said, sarcastically. She was torn between being angry with him or feeling sorry.

"I'll just get the supplies since you don't look too good," Hinata stated. She unclenched her hands that were intertwined in the back.

Before she could turn away, he stopped her. "Sakura confessed."

Hinata stood still, frozen in her spot. "What…did you say…to her?"

"I rejected her clearly and told her I couldn't return her feelings." Sasuke sighed, warily.

"Ah…" Hinata could say nothing to him. She was never put into this kind of situation before. But her heart ached with feelings of guilt and pity.

"Do you…hate me?" Sasuke asked, looking straight at her. Hinata's eyes widened at the question, looking like a deer caught in headlight.

"What happened was just between you and Sakura and I really can't judge people just by that," Hinata said, quickly. Words rushed out of her mouth like water flooding through a broken dam, "And I don't really…hate you. It's just you couldn't return the feelings to her… It's not something you can control."

Hinata began to see his trademark smirk surface on his face. "So you could speak more than a sentence or two."

Her cheeks turned a little red. Before her mind could go into overdrive, she spoke out. "Umm…just wait here."

"Huh?" Before Sasuke could respond, Hinata was running away from him toward the school, until she disappeared.

Few minutes later, she appeared again with something in her hand.

"Here," Hinata panted, handing the canned peach juice to a surprised Sasuke.

"I hope you feel better," Hinata called out as she ran to the direction of the storage room. She just couldn't help but feel responsible for what happened between them and ran away from him without looking back, trying to hide her pained expression. But if Hinata had looked back at him again, she would have seen a small smile on Sasuke's face.

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**Chapter 2 done! Thank you for all the reviews! It really is a big part of what drives me to continue.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

"Damn it. My plan didn't work," Hanabi said, as she kicked a pebble out of the way. They were walking home after the long day of confession and rejection. Usually, since they had different classes, they would come home at different times, but today, Hinata had a chance of walking home together with her younger sibling, who was, unfortunately, in a bad mood.

Hanabi frowned. "Uchiha is not just an emo but an obstinate, heartless jerk. He just rejected her like that. No regret. Nothing."

Hinata wanted to tell her that it was not true, but she would be risking herself getting questioned as to how she knows and such. After such a long day, she wasn't ready to go through a long interrogation.

Hinata had gone back to where Sakura was after her talk with Sasuke and consoled her until she stopped crying. By then, Hanabi had gone back to school on her own and Hinata was left with crying Sakura, who refused to accept the idea that Sasuke just rejected her flat out.

Hanabi wasn't done with her tirade. "I mean Sakura could sometimes be a manipulating witch, you know--" Before Hinata could intervene, Hanabi quickly added, "--but she has her nice points, too. But really, if she told you that she would give up, this would have been all over but _**nooo**_," Hanabi kicked another pebble away. "She just had to say she wouldn't give up because she liked him way too long and stuff to give up here."

Hinata just listened because she knew that this was her way of getting her stress out. But at the same time, she wished that her younger sister would decide not to meddle any further than this. But Hanabi always had a twisted way of persevering on things that she started out, even if it was something unrelated to her.

"Aww, man! Now I gotta come up with another way to force Sakura to give up on him," Hanabi exclaimed. She turned her head to look at her older sister. "If she gets rejected again, maybe she would stop bothering Onee-chan about her 'Sasuke-kun'."

Hinata decided to speak up before Hanabi could go on further. "Maybe you should stop here, Hanabi. It's not such a good idea. Let them handle it on their own."

They arrived at a crosswalk where they waited until the signal to turn green. "But you will still be involved in things that you don't really want to do. Are you okay with that?"

"Yes," Hinata replied, as her eyes looked determinedly at the grayish, opaque eyes that seemed to mirror her own. "I still want to help her as much as I can. She helped me gain confidence, and now it's time that I help her out."

Hanabi pouted. "Seriously! I sometimes wish that you weren't so nice," she said, exasperatedly, as she rolled her eyes. Hinata just smiled, her eyes crinkling in amusement. The light turned green and they started walking.

"Yeah, yeah. That's what makes you…well, you," Hanabi said, as they turned the corner. But what Hanabi said next, made her smile drop. "But that doesn't mean I'm done yet," Hanabi added, mischievously.

"Hana--"

"Yes, yes. I know you don't want me to interfere but I just came up with a perfect plan," Hanabi claimed, excitedly. Her steps became more buoyant as her mind formulated a plan.

"I'm afraid to ask."

"Don't worry," Hanabi reassured her, totally ignoring what her older sister just said. "I'll tell you all about it."

"What does it involve this time?" Hinata's face revealed a troubled expression.

"I only have a part of the plan. And it's a secret," Hanabi said, as she opened the wooden door to reveal a traditional Japanese home.

Hinata sighed as they stepped in and closed the door behind them. '_I hope it's all for the best._'

XxXxXxXxXxXxX

Hinata looked up at the gloomy sky from where she stood under the eaves, which extended out from the school building. If she took two big steps forward, she would instantly be getting wet. The big gusts of wind didn't help much to protect her either. She leaned back against the school building, out of the reach of the opening door, and hugged her dark purple school blazer closer to her in order to conserve heat. She just observed the rain falling down and listened to the sound of raindrops hitting the solid ground.

'_I just had to forget my umbrella today, didn't I?_' Hinata had left her umbrella at the hallway outside her room because she wanted to dry it out for next day as it had rained yesterday. But then she had woken up late and had to hurry to arrive on school on time and forgot to get her umbrella in the midst of all the morning chaos.

'_Everybody went home already,_' Hinata tried to warm up her hands by blowing on them and rubbing them together. She had a club meeting after school and had remained in school for extra fifteen minutes, trying to figure out where she had put her backpack. '_Bad things always happen at the same time, doesn't it?_'

'_Should I call Neji?_' Hinata thought as she looked through her bag. To her dismay and horror, she realized that she had forgotten her cell phone as well. '_I didn't really want to bother Neji anyways. Maybe I can wait until the rain let up a little_._ Then I may be able to--_'

"Nice day, isn't it?" a deep, masculine voice full of sarcasm spoke out.

She knew that voice all too well. "Uhh, yes!" She mentally hit herself as she quickly turned to her side to see Sasuke, whose eyebrow rose slightly at her answer. "I-I mean, no!"

"Enthusiastic, aren't we?" He leaned against the wall next to her with hands in his pocket.

"Sorry." Her nerves always became jittery when he was near her. Maybe because her first impression of him was mostly fear. She waited few seconds until she calmed down. "What…are you doing here?"

"I should be asking you the same thing," Sasuke replied, staring straight ahead.

"I forgot my umbrella…at home," Hinata said, sheepishly, looking at the ground out of embarrassment.

"Oh," he said, simply. The corner of his lip turned slightly upward. "I didn't expect you be that much of a forgetful person."

Hinata was aware that her face was heating up. "Well, what about you?" She looked at him, expectantly.

"I brought it, of course," he answered, getting a small black umbrella out of the bag.

"Oh." Hinata wished thousand times that she hadn't woken up late today.

'_What if we share the umbrella?_' Another wave of blush spread through her cheek. She quickly squashed the embarrassing thought from her mind.

'_Not likely…He won't share it with anybody else._' As her face cooled, she was a little disheartened by the fact that it seemed to rain harder instead of letting up.

She noticed the silence growing between them. "Aren't you…going to go?" Hinata asked him, cautiously.

"Hn…" he started out, looking at the darkened sky. "I suppose I'll take you home."

Her head whipped up so quickly that she almost hit the back of her head to the wall behind her. "What?" Hinata exclaimed, which was immediately followed by "It's okay."

"Are you planning to stay here all day?" he asked sharply, his back now off the wall. He looked at her expecting an answer. "Well?"

"Could…Could I borrow your cell phone?" Hinata asked, hopefully.

She didn't expect his reaction to be one of irritation. "What? You afraid to go with me?" His eyes were narrowed and he was almost glaring at her.

"No!" Hinata claimed. "I mean, uhh, I don't want to bother you. I'm sure you have much more things to do a-and I can wait until Neji comes to pick me up. I just need to call him, that's all." She found that the volume of her voice was slowly decreasing until it became a whisper by the end.

"Really?" he questioned, looking at her with eyes that briefly flickered with amusement.

"Yes," Hinata responded. Their eyes met for a split second before she looked away.

"Come on," Sasuke said, giving her no room to protest. "You don't want to get wet, do you?"

Hinata hastily moved to stand next to him as he opened his umbrella and they started walking. The rain continued to patter on the umbrella, which wasn't big enough to prevent her right side from getting wet.

_Splash…Splash…Step…Step…_

She was afraid to stick close to him out of fear that he was one of those people who hate getting touched by others. Also, from what she have seen in the interaction between Sakura and him, Hinata just assumed that he just didn't like the physical touch of any kind.

_Plop…Plop…Slush…Slush…_ The sound of the rain somehow soothed her heart.

Sasuke sighed, which broke her out of her reverie. "You're going to be wet by the time we get to your home."

"W-What?" Hinata tensed, tightening her hold on the bag.

"You can come in a little closer," Sasuke stated, but by the way he was looking at her, he seemed like he was demanding that she do what he just asked.

Hinata just obeyed like a good girl she was. '_Well, he is warm…_' Their arms softly brushed against each other as they walked side by side.

"Where do you live?" Hinata finally decided to ask what was bugging her mind.

"Not too far from here," Sasuke answered. "In that general direction." He pointed to the same way that her house was located.

"Ah, me too," Hinata said. Then something else occurred in her mind. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure," Sasuke asked, casually.

"How did you become friends with Naruto-kun?" Onyx eyes turned sharply to meet her inquiring ones.

Sasuke turned to look at the sidewalk ahead. His eyes held that faraway look on his face. "I met him…when we were in the elementary school. He was a stubborn kid, who always said that I was his 'rival' and that he would beat me in everything."

Hinata chuckled, imagining a mini-Naruto in her mind, shouting, "I'll beat you Sasuke, believe it!" That was something he used to say all the time in middle school, which was also the time when she started to see the actual him, an optimistic guy who was fearless and loyal.

"After that…we naturally became friends, I guess," he shrugged.

"You and Naruto-kun are really close friends," Hinata commented, smiling.

Sasuke's mouth twitched slightly in a faintest smile. "Why'd you suddenly decided to ask anyway?

"No reason," Hinata answered. It was always one of the mystery that she has been trying to solve for years but she wasn't going to tell him that. Hinata knew them, especially Naruto, starting from seventh grade. He had been friendly to her, helping her whenever he can. Hinata only knew Sasuke through Naruto. She didn't see much of him anyway.

At the beginning of ninth grade was when she started to like Naruto. Even though he was friendly, he didn't see her much more than friends. Moreover, he was in love with Sakura. She decided to wait until she was given a perfect chance and until Naruto finally decided that he didn't love her anymore. But all that waiting took a whole year and by the end of ninth grade, she had naturally grown out of her infatuation. Maybe it wasn't real love to begin with. But sometimes, she would remember how it felt like to like someone and tell herself that it was a fond memory.

"Why did you suddenly become so quiet?" a voice broke in through her thoughts, startling her.

Hinata remembered that she was walking with Sasuke. "Just reminiscing."

"About Naruto?"

Hinata didn't think too much about her answer. "Yeah."

"What did you come up with?" His voice had certain edgy but she didn't notice, too caught up in her trip to the memory lane.

"Just about how we became friends and how I--" Hinata stopped in mid-sentence, realizing that she almost said her secret out lout. "--umm, and how he used to challenge you in middle school." Hinata could practically feel sweat breaking out on her forehead even though the air around them was cold.

Hinata was certain he could feel the nervousness in her voice. She had no way of reading what was going inside his mind at the moment.

"Is he that important to you?"

"He…is my friend," Hinata answered, hoping that he hasn't figured out why she stopped in the middle of the sentence. "And yours as well."

"Then," Sasuke paused, experimentally. Hinata could tell he was debating whether to say what he wanted to say or not. "Am I considered your friend?"

Hinata blinked rapidly. '_Huh?_'

"Yes," Hinata answered. '_Aren't classmates automatically considered as friends?_'

"Hmm." He stared into nothingness.

"The rain's letting up," Hinata noted, sticking out her hand out in front of her to feel the thin raindrops drizzling down on her hands. They continued on in silence for a while. Their conversation made her think he was…nice. Whatever it was, they soon arrived at Hyuuga resident and they stood facing each other in the doorway.

"Thank you for the walk home," Hinata said, as she smiled widely at Sasuke. She wondered for a split second if he would have done the same thing had Sakura forgot her umbrella but dismissed the thought. '_Of course he would…like you said, he isn't completely heartless._'

"You're welcome," Sasuke replied, staring down at her. He turned to walk toward his house and briefly let his hand hang in the air in a goodbye gesture.

XxXxXxXxXxXxX

"Augh! That history class just bores me to death," Sakura complained, as she walked next to Hinata and Ino.

"I totally agree," Ino stated, as she stretched out her arms in front of her. "I was about to fall asleep if it wasn't for the bell."

Hinata just smiled at her friends. "Well…" Hinata started out. "He does have a boring voice."

"Ha! Even Hina-chan agrees," Ino said.

Before they could complain further about how boring their class was, they spotted Sasuke and Naruto walking out of the classroom as well.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura called out as she walked faster.

"Sakura-chan!" It seemed like it was always Sakura greeting Sasuke and Naruto greeting back at her. Sasuke turned his head back slightly. Hinata's eyes met his briefly before she looked away just as quickly.

"It makes you wonder how she keeps on chasing him even though she got rejected," Ino whispered to Hinata. "I would have been the same if it weren't for Shikamaru."

Sakura continued to follow with Naruto behind her trail.

Hinata understood. "When do you think…she will be ready to give him up?" Hinata hoped that she phrased her question right.

"If she meets someone special, I guess she will be ready to let go," Ino shrugged. "Speaking of that lazy ass, I haven't seen him all day today."

Hinata only smiled, thoroughly amused that Ino complained more about her boyfriend than actually saying positive stuff about him. But Hinata knew that there was something deeper than all the outward displays of annoyance and indignation.

"I saw him going to the cafeteria," Hinata claimed. "He was walking with Choji."

Hinata could see that Sasuke had stopped to glare at Sakura, who reacted to him by backing up a step. Hinata could see that Naruto was trying to defend her.

"He's supposed to eat lunch with me today," Ino fumed. "I swear if I see him, I'll kick his ass. He will feel no sympathy from me." Ino cackled evilly.

"Ino-chan, maybe he has his reasons." Hinata tried to keep her anger to a minimum.

Ino sighed, disappointedly. "Whatever. He will probably say it was too troublesome to get me from my class or something along those lines." She turned to walk to the direction of cafeteria. "Take care of Sakura for me. I'll see you at the same table, right?"

Hinata watched Ino weave her way through the school campus before she finally began to walk near where the trouble was brewing. She wished there was an easy way out. '_Maybe I should give another chance for Sakura to be alone with Sasuke?_'

"Sakura-chan," Hinata called out. She said simple "hello" to both guys in the group. She only made eye contact with Naruto and Sakura. "Let's go get lunch."

"Now that you mention it, I _**am**_ hungry," Naruto said as he smiled at Hinata.

"Alright," Sakura said as she looked back at her friend. "Let's go, Sasuke-kun." Hinata took a peek at Sasuke but he was looking somewhere out into the crowd with an expression mixed with anger and indifference.

When they started walking, Sakura naturally took her spot next to Sasuke, while Naruto made futile attempts to make conversation with Sakura. Hinata just followed behind, next to the discouraged Naruto.

"Naruto-kun," Hinata decided to try strike up a conversation. "How are you doing today?"

"I'm doing fine." Hinata saw that Naruto's eyes became brighter. "No troubles today with teachers 'cause I actually did all my homework," he stated, happily, giving her thumbs up.

Hinata could hear vaguely that Sakura was talking to Sasuke about her classes as well, but Sasuke seemed uninterested.

"I was bored to death yesterday with nothing to do after school," Naruto continued on. Naruto's cerulean eyes seemed to come alive even more as something else occupied his mind. "Oh yeah! You should come to Ichiraku Ramen Bar with me sometimes. They have the best ramen ever."

Hinata listened to what Naruto was saying and was amazed that he could make the conversation flow from one topic to the next without having to pause. Hinata only added her own thoughts in between but was mostly content to listen. She occasionally chuckled at what Naruto was saying and sometimes, she would check on the pair in front of her to make sure nothing went wrong.

"Oh, dammit. WATCH OUT!" Someone shouted from behind them as they were walking outside near the field.

Hinata felt something slap the back of her head hard, which caused her to crash into the person in front of her. Her brain felt numb and she felt her legs give out beneath her and there was a split second of pain shooting out from her body as she hit the floor. Everything happened so fast that it took few seconds to register what happened through her befuddled mind.

Hinata felt the back of her head sting and become numb. She was lying on the ground and could vaguely hear someone call out to her through her unfocused eyes.

"Oh god, I'm so sorry!" someone's voice yelled out. "I swear it was an accident!" His voice seemed familiar.

"Hina-chan! Hina-chan!" Sakura's voice called to her somewhere nearby. "What were you thinking?"

"I told you, it was an accident!"

"We need to get her to nurse's office."

Hinata could feel her eyes beginning to droop. Everything felt dreamlike and fuzzy. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she knew that she should be embarrassed but that thought soon disappeared as another wave of numbing sensation swept through her body.

"Hinata-chan!"

Hinata felt herself being lifted off the ground.

'_Naruto-kun, always coming to my rescue._' She was barely conscious.

"Hold on!"

Dimly, she registered the mass of black, blond, and pink in front of her, all mashing and mixing together like different colored paints. Reassured, Hinata finally closed her eyes and surrendered herself to the welcoming darkness.

XxXxXxXxXxXxX

**Feedbacks are appreciated! I really thank you all for the support. All the positive reviews are really making the writing process much more rewarding and fun :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: One of the shorter chapters of the story :)**

**Chapter 4**

Hinata tried opening her eyes and was instantly bombarded with piercing lights. She felt an oncoming headache. For a split second, she thought she was at home and intended to get up to prepare for school. But when she opened her eyes fully, school nurse greeted her with a smile on her face.

"You okay?" she asked, kindly.

"I guess so," Hinata replied, weakly. She tried to sit up, but she her head felt too heavy and she felt a dull sting at the back of her head. Her world seemed to be spinning around much more.

"You got hit by the head rather hard with a soccer ball," Kurenai commented. "But you'll be fine." The school nurse gazed at her with assurance.

"How…did I get here?" Hinata asked, resting her back on the pillow behind her, which was propped up by the headboard.

"You were carried by Uchiha…I think it was," she replied, thoughtfully. "Haruno, Inuzuka, and Uzumaki were here as well. Inuzuka kept apologizing so I assume he's the one who accidentally hit you."

'_Sasuke? What? I thought it was Naruto-kun who carried me here._' Hinata could feel heat starting to slowly creep into her cheeks. Instead of dwelling on it, she chose to think about something else. '_So, Kiba-kun was the one who hit me on the head. Owww._'

"They might come back later after their class ends," Kurenai said, turning to look back at her paperwork. "Do you want me to call anyone in your family to come pick you up?"

"Ah, no thank you," Hinata answered. "I think I'll be fine."

Kurenai looked at the student briefly with a troubled expression. "I really think you should call someone."

"It's okay," Hinata stated, feeling determined not to be a burden. '_I don't really want to bother anyone. I can handle this on my own._'

"Well, if you say so," Kurenai replied, looking at her doubtfully.

The door of the nurse's office opened to reveal Kiba, who looked worriedly at her. Hinata greeted him as soon as she saw him and he hurriedly neared her bed and began to apologize.

"I'm so sorry, Hinata-chan. It really was an accident and I hope you don't hate me for it," Kiba sprouted out all in one breath.

Somewhere Kurenai let out a "Tch."

"I'm fine, Kiba-kun," Hinata replied. "And how could I hate you? It really was just an accident."

"Really?" Kiba's eyes rose to meet her eyes in relief. "Thanks, Hinata-chan," he said, shaking her hand, vigorously.

Hinata moved her legs from the bed to the ground, intending to get up. She felt a bit woozy but she managed to stand upright.

"Do you want me to help?" Kiba looked at her with concern. He moved to support her back.

"It's fine," she replied. She felt something continuing to prick her brain. The pain in the back of the head had dulled but she felt really tired. Today seemed like a really long day.

"No, you're not. Here, you can hold onto me and I'll take you home today," Kiba stated, grabbing her left arm to support her while they walked. Hinata just let him take charge and let herself be dragged out. She briefly thanked Kurenai before going out the door.

"Kiba?" It was the familiar male voice again that belonged to the person whom she mistakenly thought she was rescued by. "Where are you going with Hinata-chan?"

"Hey, Naruto," Kiba greeted as he turned to the direction where the voice came from. "I'm taking her home today."

Hinata spotted Sasuke and Sakura as well. She remained still in her spot, trying to lessen the roaring in her ears.

"No way, Hina-chan's not safe with you," Sakura objected, immediately. "Look at what you have gotten her into." She glared at Kiba. Naruto agreed stating that Kiba was irresponsible, which made Kiba angry. Sasuke was looking at Kiba with mild irritation.

'_I have got to thank Sasuke later._'

"She already forgave me, okay?" Kiba smirked. "And I don't see her complaining."

"Hina-chan, I can call Neji for you," Sakura said, still glaring at Kiba.

Everything was whirling and spinning. '_I don't feel too good._'

"Eh…it's okay," Hinata said, dismissively. "I can go home just fine." She tried to squirm out of Kiba's grip.

"No." Kiba's grip on her arm tightened. "I really don't want you to get hurt."

'_I just want to go __**home**__._'

"Alright," Hinata agreed, defeated. "Just take me home."

Naruto decided to speak up. "Hey, doesn't Sasuke live in the same direction as Hinata-chan?"

'_Oh, no…Why is he sharp on these kinds of things?_'

That got the attention of the rest of the group. Hinata could see Sakura's gears working.

"So?" Kiba asked, unaffected by the statement. He wasn't about to hand his responsibility to someone else and Sasuke was at the very end of his list.

"That's perfect," Sakura stated. "_**I**_ will drop Hinata off." She pried off Kiba's grip from Hinata's arm.

_'I just want to go home,_' she wailed in her thoughts.

"I said-" Kiba started out, reaching back for her arm.

"Can't you see that Hinata just wants to go home, you morons?" Sasuke cut in, looking at both of them with disapproval and irritation on his face.

Hinata turned to him with a grateful look on her face, which was soon replaced by a stunned expression as Sasuke grabbed her arm and dragged her toward the school entrance. Hinata could only stumble on after him.

"M-My bag!" Hinata stated, trying to slow him down.

"Got it here," Sasuke replied, not even missing a beat. Hinata looked at him with a shocked expression.

"Wait, Sasuke!"

"Sasuke, dammit! Come back here!"

"Sasuke-kun? Hina-chan?"

That snapped her back to reality out of her daze as Hinata forcefully pulled out of his grip, which almost caused her to fall backward if it had not been for Sasuke's fast reflex reaching out for her hand, pulling her back to her feet.

"I can call Neji," Hinata quickly said as she grabbed her bag out of his hand and backed off. Sasuke just stared at her in disbelief.

By that time, the three people that were left behind caught up. There were mixed expressions of shock, anger, confusion, and much more, which Hinata didn't bother discerning. Sasuke had recovered from his previous shock and scowled at the three. "Can't you see she's pale?"

They stopped to look at their friend, who was indeed paler. She stared back at them with a pained look on her face.

"_**I'm**_ taking her home," Sasuke gritted out. "All these babbling and jabbering is giving _**me**_ a headache." They were about to protest, which was cut short by Sasuke's glare. "As Naruto said, I live near her."

"I'll come with-" Sakura stated, only to be cut short when Sasuke interrupted.

"No, you're going home," Sasuke deadpanned, taking Hinata's bag out of her grip. "I don't want to be responsible for your safety either."

He grabbed Hinata's arm but this time, she just obliged him to support her and drag her toward school entrance. They walked in silence for a while, leaving the trio behind. Hinata was afraid to look back, fearing a hurt look on Sakura's face.

'_I should have just allowed Kurenai-sensei to call Neji._'

"You feeling okay?" Sasuke's voice with something akin to worry broke her from her reverie.

"Y-Yes," Hinata mumbled out. "Thank you for carrying me to the nurse's office." She was aware that he was holding her arm and was standing very close. She thought of various ways to inconspicuously get her arm back because this closeness was making her uncomfortable despite her jumbled up mind. She could not understand the cause of her accelerated heartbeats and blush that was about to surface on her cheeks.

"Have you ever fainted like that before?" Sasuke looked at her, curiously. She tried to pull her arm slightly, but that made him clutch her arm more firmly than before.

"No, it's my first time," Hinata replied, disappointed at her failed attempt. She had calmed down rather quickly and had accepted the fact that Sasuke was going to help her, whether she liked it or not. Not wanting to let go of his willingness to talk, she turned the table around him. "Have you?"

"Hmm. Yeah," Sasuke answered her. "It was when I was in first grade. My brother and I were playing tag at home and he accidentally pushed me. I hit my head on the corner of the table and just fainted," he said, rather quickly like he was embarrassed.

"Really?" Her eyes were full of mirth and amusement as she briefly glanced at Sasuke making an eye contact before she looked down again. "It seems like I always get help from you."

Sasuke stared at her from his peripheral vision. "Seems so."

"Sorry," Hinata apologized. "I'm bothering you again."

To her surprise, he said, "It's nothing." His tone was not malicious and he didn't seem particularly annoyed.

'_He really is nice. Maybe this is why Sakura likes him._'

"Is there…anything that I could do for you in return?" Hinata asked him. She wanted to repay him back for the few times she got his help even if it was something small.

"Not at this moment," he answered, his lips forming into a smirk. "But you owe me."

That seemed reasonable. '_I mean what could I possibly do for him?_'

"Alright." Hinata smiled.

They walked on with him supporting her arm and she leaning against him, all the way to her house.

XxXxXxXxXxXxX

"How about asking him out for a movie?" The excited whitish-gray eyes looked at the similar pair of eyes that was concentrated on the book in front of her.

"No," the older sister stated, flipping a page.

Hanabi pouted. "How about for a dinner?"

"No thanks," Hinata replied, looking up from her book to see her sister drumming her fingers on the desk in impatience.

"Well?" Hanabi looked at her sister sprawled on the bed with a book in her hand.

"What?" Hinata kept her eyes on the book but she was reading the same line over and over, distracted by her younger sister.

"Can't you at least try?" Hanabi tried to persuade her stubborn older sibling as she got up from the chair, making a scratchy noise on the floor.

Hinata sighed. "Hanabi, even if I do ask Naruto to come to those places, there's no way that Sasuke is going to come along."

Hanabi plopped onto the bed, pulling the book out of Hinata's hand. "That's why you need to give them to Sakura." When Hinata had a confused look on her face, Hanabi went on like a teacher trying to make a student learn a new concept. "Look, if you tell Sakura that you have four tickets to the movie, then she's immediately going to ask Sasuke to come along. She will be sure to tell him that Naruto and you will come as well-" Before Hinata could point out the flaw, she went on. "-of course, he will still reject her offer. But that's why you're going to have to convince him."

"WHAT?" Hinata yelled out, snapping her full attention to her sister. "What makes you think that _**he**_ will listen to _**me**_?"

"Oh, come on. Nobody will be able to resist if you ask," Hanabi said, matter-of-factly. "But he does seem kind of intimidating."

"Exactly," Hinata said, as she reached for her book in her sister's hand.

"Just try." Hanabi dropped the book right next to the bed.

"But I already owe him," Hinata claimed, opting to just lie down on the bed on her back.

"You _**what**_?" Hanabi looked at her sister curiously. Hinata could see Hanabi weaving that little part into her plan. "Hmm…that might actually work to our advantage. Since you owe him, you ask him out for a dinner to repay him. Simple."

"Not really," Hinata declared, stretching out. "What if he hates me for bringing Sakura along?"

Hanabi knew that Hinata couldn't stand the thought of somebody hating her. "That's why you have got to invite Naruto, too," Hanabi said. "Make it a friendly invitation to repay both Naruto and Sasuke back at the same time…even if you don't owe Naruto anything. It's a perfect bait."

"You think so?" Hinata asked her. "What if Sasuke questions as to why I brought Sakura along?"

"Well, you should say that you wanted to buy her dinner for a long time since you guys haven't gone out as friends in a while," Hanabi easily replied.

Hinata thought through the whole thing.

"By the way, _**why**_ do you owe Sasuke?" Hanabi questioned, looking at her sister. Her voice practically brimmed with curiosity.

"It's a long story," she replied, not intending to elaborate.

"I'll find out sooner or later," Hanabi declared, staring at her sister directly.

"Maybe." Hinata buried her head on the pillow, her mind full of the plan that Hanabi had told her. Her voice came out as muffled, "But not now."

XxXxXxXxXxXxX

"Naruto-kun," Hinata called out as she speed-walked to catch up with him.

"Yeah?" Naruto turned around to see Hinata and waited for her to come to him.

"You know that one time we talked about the Ichiraku place?" When Naruto nodded, she went on quickly. "Well, I-I was wondering if it was okay that I invite you to dinner. I'm going to invite Sasuke to come, too, because I owe him. Since you are my good friend and you know him the best, I wanted to invite you, too." She tightly squeezed the book to her chest in nervousness.

"Sure," he said, simply. "I wouldn't miss going to my favorite place even once," he smiled at her, broadly. He looked behind her and suddenly waved. "Hey, Sasuke!"

Hinata turned pale at having to meet him so soon. She formulated how she was going to ask him and turned around to see him walking toward their direction.

"Hinata-chan wants to ask you something," Naruto stated, putting his hand on her shoulder, which somewhat gave her comfort.

"Yes?" He stared at her directly, which made her want to hide behind Naruto.

"I said I owe you, right? So I was wondering if it was okay to repay you back by inviting you to Ichiraku Ramen Bar."

"Okay." Her surprise must have been evident on her face because he added, "What?"

Naruto cut in as he clapped her on the back. "See, isn't that great?" He smiled broadly at her. "When are we meeting?"

"Wait, _**we**_?" Sasuke claimed, as he looked back and forth between Naruto and Hinata with mixed surprise and irritation.

"Yeah, I mean Hinata-chan is my good friend, too, so she invited me along," Naruto said, excitedly, not noticing the dark aura emitting from his best friend.

"Umm, is that okay with you?" Hinata asked Sasuke, cautiously, hoping that it wouldn't further annoy him.

Sasuke didn't reply, but sighed and nodded slightly. Relieved, Hinata smiled at him but noticed that he was bothered by something. Hinata quickly turned to Naruto when she noticed that Sasuke's eyes were moving up to meet hers.

"So we'll meet at Friday, at 6:00," Hinata stated, trying to calm down her beating heart and keeping her blush in check.

They both nodded in agreement.

XxXxXxXxXxXxX

**As usual, review, please! Any suggestions for further chapters are welcome as well because I'm running out of ideas but that won't show up until three chapters or so. Hopefully, the writer's block will go away.**

**To ppeach2: Oww! That must have hurt. A soccer ball hit me in the face one time, too. It really stung but I wasn't injured except for a bloody nose and stinging face. But that's where I got the inspiration to write for the scene from before, haha :)**

**Thank you for all the reviews! I'll try to answer all the questions or hopefully respond to some comments from now on after the chapters.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

When Naruto and Sasuke entered through the door, Hinata called out to them. Sakura, who was sitting right next to her, was already told that they were coming and had been talking about Sasuke excitedly. Hinata listened through her chatter and was glad that Sakura was happy. But when Sasuke saw Sakura, his expression turned into one of distress and vexation, which worried Hinata quite a bit.

After short greetings have been said, they settled down on a table. But what Hinata didn't expect was for Sasuke to sit right next to her. Sakura was directly facing him and Hinata was trapped in the corner. Sakura's eyes met Hinata's and Hinata could see how happy she was.

'_If only I liked someone like that…_' Hinata looked at Naruto who was sitting in front of her. '_Well, it was a fond memory._' She reminisced back to the time when she was happy by the fact that Naruto would come near her. There was that slight familiar ache in her heart but she ignored it, choosing to look out the small window situated to her right. The sun had almost set and streetlights were coming on. She could hear Sakura's murmur, Sasuke's sharp utterance, and Naruto's lively voice all melding and mingling together into stream of indeterminate words.

"Hinata-chan! What do you want to order?" Naruto asked her, catching her attention.

"Umm…whatever you're ordering, I'll order, too," Hinata said, hoping that they haven't thought her as rude for unintentionally ignoring them momentarily. He ordered miso ramen for her. She took a peek at Sasuke out of her peripheral vision and saw that he was just sitting there with his lips set in a tight line, not even listening to the Sakura's incessant chatter.

"Isn't this delicious?" Naruto asked Hinata, his mouth full of ramen. Hinata only chuckled while Sakura made a noise, expressing her disgust.

Hinata turned to Sasuke, noting that he has only taken two or three spoonfuls. "Do you like it?"

"Just saying," Sasuke started out, putting the chopsticks neatly at the side of the bowl. "This will not be my repayment from you," Sasuke stated, looking at her from the corner of his eyes. Hinata was about to protest but he cut her off. "_**I **_get to decide what you have to do."

Hinata saw that Sakura was busy arguing with Naruto to notice the two of them conversing. She sighed, "Alright."

"Hey, what are you guys talking about?" Naruto interrupted, having done listening to Sakura's lecture about table etiquettes. He had finished eating his food as well.

"Nothing much," Sasuke answered, semi-glaring at him. "That's disgusting dobe." He was looking at the ramen broth dripping down the side of Naruto's mouth.

Naruto made a sound that with his mouth showing that he was displeased but knowing that Sakura would defend Sasuke if he said anything derogatory about him, he chose to glare at his friend. Hinata just quietly got a napkin and handed it to Naruto.

"Thanks, Hinata-chan! You're really nice." His glare turned to a brilliant smile in a second. Sakura just rolled her eyes at him.

Hinata smiled in return. She heard an "Hmph" from the companion beside her and looked at him inquiringly. He just looked away.

"What's wrong?" Sakura asked him to which he replied that nothing was wrong. She looked troubled by how he was acting and he was troubled by something else. Naruto didn't seem to notice but Hinata sensed that there were something holding both Sasuke and Sakura back from saying what they had in mind.

After they were done eating and talking, they were ready to go home. Many thanks were said to Hinata, who had invited all of them. Sakura and Naruto were especially lively, while Sasuke was quiet and Hinata just observed. Chilly air surrounded them as they went out the door and the sun had already set, leaving out stars and a beautiful moon hanging in the darkened sky.

"I guess it's time to go home now," Sakura said as she rubbed her hands together to warm them up. They all agreed.

"See you tomorrow!" Sakura said, as she waved with Naruto following behind her, who had also said his goodbyes.

Hinata waved back enthusiastically. But what she failed to realize that it was now just Sasuke and her left alone. When she noticed Sasuke beside her, she almost jumped out of surprise.

"What?" He looked at her with a hint of amusement.

"Nothing!" She exclaimed. Then, she turned to the direction of their home to hide her embarrassment. "Let's go home."

They walked side by side in the darkness. She didn't know what he was thinking at that moment but she was curious about one thing. "About the thing you said earlier-"

"Yes, you still owe me," he interrupted. He was looking forward with his hands in his dark bluish black jacket, going at a leisure pace.

"But I invited you here…to repay you," Hinata stated, troubled expression settling on her face. "You didn't like it?"

"Yeah, me in addition to two other idiots," Sasuke replied to counter her first statement, giving her an exasperated look. "And yes, it was highly unpleasant."

Her face expression dropped to one of disappointment. But she noticed that he seemed more willing to talk than he was in the restaurant. "Why?"

"Having those two around always gives me headaches," Sasuke replied, furrowing his eyebrows in distaste. "And Sakura is back to where she was before."

He looked stressed out and she didn't know how to console him. She looked at their shadows illuminated by the streetlights. The thought that they look like a couple taking a nightly stroll flitted across her mind. She dismissed it immediately before a blush could bloom across her face. Hinata bit her lips as she was nervous about the question she was about to ask him.

"You…don't like her?" Hinata asked, cautiously.

"I don't. I never did and I never will," Sasuke deadpanned, repeating the similar lines that he had said on the day of Sakura's confession. "The faster that gets through her head, the better."

"But why won't you…give her a chance?" Hinata was just curious. Sakura was popular after all and it was highly likely that he did consider going out with her.

"It was like that from the very beginning," Sasuke explained, rather abruptly. He looked even more infuriated and his voice was brimmed with anger. "Are you saying that I should be going out with her even though I don't care for her?"

Hinata's eyes widened. "NO!" She calmed herself down before saying, "I'm just…worried about both of you, that's all."

His anger had dissipated diminutively, which was partly replaced by surprise. "What?"

"I don't want anyone to get hurt. You are my friend as well as Sakura," Hinata elaborated. "But you never considered her…at all?" She scrutinized him, looking for any sign of remorse or some kind of affectionate expression and found none at all.

'_He could be so cold at times…_'

"No and that's the truth," Sasuke claimed as he sighed.

'_Do I have to give up on helping Sakura?_'

"What about you?"

"Me?" Hinata looked back at him in surprise.

"Yeah, there's only you here," Sasuke claimed, his sarcasm coming back as well as his old self.

"About what?" Hinata asked, shifting uncomfortably. She worried that she had asked personal questions that might have somehow offended him.

"What would you do if you were in her situation?" he asked, suddenly, looking at her for her reaction. Her face took on that familiar red hue. "_**Or**_," he emphasized. "What would you do if you were in my situation?"

"I don't know," Hinata claimed, looking unsure. "But I know that liking someone could be painful sometimes."

He stared at her. "Really?" She could somehow feel that the air around them was getting tenser and she had no idea why. She inhaled and exhaled the chilly air. "Care to elaborate?"

"Erm…" Hinata was at a loss for words. "I don't really blame Sakura for trying…she's brave enough to face her feelings, which I admire. B-But I'm not really sure about your thoughts except that you are unwilling-"

"I was asking about yourself," Sasuke cut in. She could suddenly feel her body getting colder.

"M-Maybe later," Hinata declared, flustered. They walked on in silence but she knew that he was somehow in a darker mood than before. She wanted to say something to lighten up the atmosphere but didn't know what to do. "Sasuke?"

He grunted in reply.

"Are you…angry?" Hinata questioned, pausing to glance at her companion.

Sasuke seems to consider this but what he said next was unexpected. "Hell yes, I'm mad." He didn't seem like he was being sarcastic either.

Hinata considered asking him "Why?" or saying "I'm sorry" but knew that he would be displeased either way. It never occurred to her mind that she knew a lot about the guy beside her. But the only thing that she desperately wished now was that his darkened mood would lighten.

She looked up at the sky, hoping for an answer. "The moon looks bright tonight," Hinata commented, looking at the sky.

Sasuke followed her gaze to the bright moon hanging in the air. "It's similar to your eyes."

Hinata almost tripped in surprise. "W-What?"

"I heard someone saying that out loud," Sasuke claimed, his eyes coming to meet hers. They held the eye contact for few moments before he turned back to the moon. "I guess it's true."

"Oh." Hinata knew that he wasn't one of those romantic types. She almost mistakenly took his comment the wrong way and berated herself for thinking so. But she couldn't control her blush and was thankful that it was too dark to be visible.

"Wait a minute," Hinata suddenly spoke as she suddenly stopped. "Where are you going?" Hinata knew that they lived in the same direction but they were close to her home now and she wondered why he didn't just say goodbye and leave her.

"Your house," he answered as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "To drop you off." Sasuke sighed as he continued walking, briefly glancing at Hinata to prompt her to proceed forward as well. "I'm saying I'll walk you home, regardless of your opinion."

When they arrived at her house, he had intended to say goodbye and leave her but she yelled, "Wait!"

Sasuke turned around only to have something warm wrap around his neck and the scent of vanilla and lavender invade his nose. He stood there in shock as she came close to him and enveloped in a semi-hug in order to loosely wrap the scarf around his neck. He vaguely noted that her dark blue scarf was missing from her neck.

"Y-You're cold, right?" Hinata said, as she stepped back, trying to hide her embarrassment.

He felt something warm invade his chest, different from the warmth that the scarf was providing. "Yours?" He fingered the knitted scarf with interest.

"Yes," Hinata answered, simply. "You can give it back to me later. I-I mean it's an old scarf anyway and I'm thankful that you came all the way here just to drop me off. I didn't want you to be cold either." She stopped before she could babble on and looked down to conceal her pink face.

"Hmm." Sasuke's lip turned upward to form a small smile.

She felt something brush her hair and looked up to see that he was playing with the strand of her hair. "Thanks," he said, almost inaudibly.

They heard a noise coming from her house, which broke her out of her daze. She backed away hastily. "I b-better go. Goodbye, Sasuke."

Hinata disappeared through the wooden door quickly and closed it, leaning her back against the hard surface of the gate. She slid to the floor, not caring how dirty it was, and covered her flushed cheeks with her hands. She severely wished that her beating heart would calm down because it was getting to the point that it was painful. She felt something stir in her heart. '_What just happened?_'

"Hinata?" Someone's voice called out from the inside.

She quickly got up and hoped that the darkness would conceal her reddened face. "I-I'm here."

Neji's form appeared from the kitchen door. "Had fun?"

"Yeah," Hinata answered, light-heartedly. She suddenly felt that her steps were lighter.

Outside her gate, Sasuke stared toward the door where Hinata had disappeared to and turned to walk toward his house. He buried lower half of his face inside her scarf and smiled to himself, glad that he came after all despite a rough beginning with Sakura and Naruto.

XxXxXxXxXxXxX

"Hinata-chan," a male voice called out. She turned to look at the speaker who she knew so well.

"Hey, Naruto-kun!" Hinata waited until he caught up. He was uncharacteristically serious, which made Hinata concerned. "Something wrong?"

He suddenly grabbed Hinata by the shoulder and pulled her close, which startled her. But before she open her mouth, Naruto beat her to it. "Hinata, you're my friend, right? I need you to help me with something."

Hinata couldn't concentrate on his words with him having so close to her. She also hoped that Naruto wouldn't notice her slight blush, which had unfortunately blossomed in her cheeks because of the close proximity.

"Ehh…what exactly do you need help on?" Hinata asked him, wanting to take a step back but thought that it would hurt him as he took the initiative to approach her.

He dragged her to one of the corner of the school where there was no one in sight. Hinata was starting to get anxious because of his unpredictable actions. But what came out of his mouth was something she hadn't been expecting. "Please help me with Sakura-chan!"

Hinata was dumbfounded. "…What?"

"Sakura-chan is always saying Sasuke this and Sasuke that. I don't what to do to make her notice me." He looked genuinely confused. "You're her best friend so I thought it would be best to ask you," Naruto said, as he squeezed her shoulder. Hinata panicked and she backed away to the wall behind her. He continued on, "When I walked home with Sakura yesterday, she looked unsure when I mentioned Sasuke. I feel like I have a chance with her," he stated, as he stared at her expectantly. His eyes just begged her to say yes. "I'm just saying that I want to be given a chance to win her."

"I…can't," Hinata heard herself say. Hinata regretted saying it as soon as she looked at his face expression.

She felt her heart break when she saw that he looked devastated. "You're saying that I don't even have a chance with her, right?"

Everything was too much for her. "NO!"

"_**Naruto**_," someone's voice growled. "Get away from her."

They both turned around to see angry Sasuke standing there, who pulled Naruto back by his collar. Naruto responded immediately. "Sasuke? What the hell are you doing? Let go of me!"

"What the hell are you forcing her to do?" Sasuke gritted, his left hand clenching to form a fist as if to…

Hinata snapped out of her daze. "He wasn't!" When both guys looked at her, she tried again. "He wasn't forcing me to do anything. He was just asking for school-related stuff."

The three of them stood frozen for few more seconds until Naruto took the opportunity to break out of Sasuke's grip. "See? I wasn't forcing her to do anything!" He readjusted his crumpled shirt.

Sasuke glared at him. "Right," he said sarcastically. "You drag her to a corner of a school to ask her school-related stuff?"

'_Oh crap,_' Hinata felt uneasy.

"I can ask her wherever I want, bastard," Naruto growled.

"Oh really?" Sasuke's eyebrows rose at this. "Last time I checked, I didn't see you dragging Shikamaru or me to a corner of school."

"Why the hell would I drag you to a corner just to ask that stupid question?" Naruto asked, realizing his mistake too late.

'_There goes my cover up.'_ Hinata sighed inwardly.

"Right," Sasuke confirmed. "So it wasn't school-related."

"Why I ought to-"

Hinata interrupted as she stood partially behind Naruto, "He really wasn't doing-or forcing me to do anything, Sasuke."

"Why the hell do you care?" Naruto asked, suddenly.

Sasuke easily countered it. "Anything related to you spells trouble, dobe."

"Hey! That's _**not**_ true," Naruto fumed. Hinata wanted to intervene but she didn't know what to say.

Sasuke was the first to notice that Hinata was uncomfortable. "Whatever," Sasuke said to Naruto as he turned to grab Hinata's arm. "Let's go."

"HEY!" Naruto yelled as he yanked Hinata back. "Hinata stays with _**me**_."

Sasuke's hand was still latched onto her wrist and they kept pulling back and forth, neither one of them intending to let go. Hinata was in pain and was about to say something when someone else appeared behind her.

"I really do hope that you both aren't planning to pull out my cousin's arm." Neji pulled her out of the reach. Hinata looked back to see that her cousin's eyes were full of murderous intent and his body was tense like he was going to start a fight. He gripped her too tightly on the shoulders. "Hinata, did they hurt you?"

"I'm okay," Hinata managed to find her voice. "Let's just stop this," she pleaded. "It was all a simple misunderstanding."

The atmosphere was thick and unbearable as the four of them stood still for several moments.

Hinata felt Neji's hold loosen and the tension somewhat lift. Neji's voice reverberated with forced calmness, "Uzumaki and Uchiha, if I see that you are trying to hurt my cousin again, I'll make sure you won't be able to use your arm for the rest of your life."

Sasuke glared at him and let out a "Tch." Naruto, on the other hand, said that it wasn't his fault that Sasuke was trying to take Hinata away, which made Neji clench his fist in annoyance.

"Umm…that won't be necessary, Neji," Hinata stated as she grabbed his arm to drag him away as far as possible away from those two.

"We'll see," Neji said as he let himself be dragged away.

"Bye, Naruto-kun and Sasuke," Hinata said as she turned back briefly.

Sasuke turned to Naruto and muttered, "Your fault." He shoved his hands in his pocket and started walking.

"My fault? How is that my fault, Sasuke-bastard?" Naruto said as he walked fast to catch up.

"Dobe."

XxXxXxXxXxXxX

**Another chapter done! This chapter was fun to write because of the fluff scene :) I'm officially out of writer's block so thanks for the suggestions. I really wasn't expecting much for this story but I'm surprised to learn that many people like it :) Thanks for the reviews and support!**

**To my reviewers:**

**Misamisa3: Would you like Kiba to have a bigger role? I've thought about it but if you do suggest it, I'll take that into consideration.**

**InsaneNarutard0111: Please don't die :) I'll most likely finish the story so I hope you stick with the story and continue to review until the end, thanks!**

**Dumdeedum: Thanks for the suggestion! Yeah, I was thinking about writing more about the friendship between Sakura and Hinata. But that'll come up later.**

**Ppeach2: Woah. Staples? So you still have that attached to your head? Ouch.**

**NekoStriker101: Wow, that many balls? And magazine? Lol. I hope you're already adjusted to your class :) That's a bummer. Hopefully next school year, you'll get into a class you really like.**

**Wind Upon the Sea: Thanks for the ideas! I'm really glad you like the story.  
**

**Archangel360: I don't really like characters that are too OOC either. So I try to keep them in character. Thanks!**

**Loved-chan: Thanks for the suggestion! When I'm in one of my worst writer's block, I'll take that into consideration. **

**Cloud Envy Shikamaru: lol, that's a lot of balls that you got hit with :) Hope you're okay. Thanks for the review!**

**Thanks Jay-Boogie, Lady Crack, and any other reviewers that I missed for the reviews :)**


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